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4th/5th Grade Connect Class | |
Worship Preview | Sunday, April 17, 2022
Easter
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
Sanctuary and Youtube
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Dialogue Sermon:
"Resurrection Road Trip!"
by Marcia Mount Shoop, Richard Coble and Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks
Scriptures:
Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 24:1-12
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*For the full revised common lectionary, please click here. | |
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Every Sunday of Lent we will celebrate Communion.
Remember that our COVID practice has been to use anything you have at home for your elements. Your bread can be a cracker, bagel or even a donut. Your cup can be a glass of water or anything else you have on hand.
The spirit of our Presbyterian practice of Communion is that the body of Christ is not found in the elements themselves, but in the community gathered together to share this meal of revolutionary love.
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Two services this Sunday; reserve a space for childcare at 9:00 or 10:45 am!
Please follow this LINK (9:00am) to reserve a space for your child 0-4 years of age for childcare on Sunday, April 17th @ 8:45 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
Please follow this LINK (10:45am) to reserve a space for your child 0-4 years of age for childcare on Sunday, April 17th @ 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
As long as it is dry outside we plan on spending the majority of the morning outdoors. Please dress your children with this in mind. We will have a table in the welcome center to check your child in and do a temperature check. Please do not hesitate to reach out to amykim@gcpcusa.org with any questions or if you have any issues with the reservations.
All families are encouraged to submit a family health & wellness form. This will help us know more about your children’s health needs as we move forward. Please contact Cat Kessler if you have any trouble submitting the form.
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| Thursday, April 14 | Maundy Thursday | 6:00 pm @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Friday, April 15 | A Service of Tenebrae | 7:00 pm @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Saturday, April 16 | Holy Saturday Meditation Stations | 10 am - 12 pm @ GCPC | | Sunday, April 17 | Easter Sunday
Hybrid Worship
(Two identical services) | 9:00 am @ GCPC
(also on Youtube)
&
10:45 am @ GCPC
(also on Youtube) | | Monday, April 18 | Church closed |
| | Tuesday, April 19 | Church Office Open! | 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | | Tuesday, April 19 | Finance Council | 5:30 pm on Zoom | | Tuesday, April 19 | Serve Council | 6:30 pm on Zoom | | Tuesday, April 19 | Formation Council | 7:00 pm @ GCPC
(also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, April 20 | Hybrid Bible Study | 10:00 am @ GCPC
(also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, April 20 | MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) Group | 11:00 am @ GCPC
(also on Zoom) | | Wednesday, April 20 | Just Funding Mtg. | 6:00 pm @ GCPC | | Wednesday, April 20 | Choir Rehearsal Pod | 7:00 pm @ GCPC | | Thursday, April 21 | GCPC 20s/30s/& Beyond Gathering: Dinner& Trivia | 6:30 pm @ Creekside Taphouse | | Thursday, April 21 | PW Circle 3 Mtg. | 7:00 pm on Zoom | | |
Click here to watch the Maundy Thursday live stream service at 6pm! | |
Click here to watch the live stream of A Service of Tenebrae at 7pm. | |
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Hybrid Lectionary Bible Study | Wednesday, April 20| 10:00 AM | Atrium (masked) or via Zoom
Join the pastoral staff to read and study our sermon texts for Sunday. No preparation needed; just come ready to open scripture and discuss!
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/93439349183
Meeting ID: 934 3934 9183 | Passcode: 789
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GCPC 20s/30s/& Beyond Dinner and Trivia | Thursday, April 21 | 7:00 - 9:00 PM | Creekside Taphouse (8 Beverly Rd, Asheville)
Get ready for some trivia! Come out and join the team! We will put our minds full of all things trivial together for some fun, food, friendly competition, and fellowship! Questions? Contact Richard Coble: rcoble@gcpcusa.org
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Deacon Helpers Needed!
Our deacon helpers are an informal list of GCPC community members who get updates when there is a congregational need. These needs include meals, rides to doctor appointments, and other concerns that come up in the church family. We are so thankful for everyone already on the list for all they do for our congregation! There also is room for it to grow as our congregation grows! Please contact Richard for more info or to be placed on the list.
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Deacon of the Week:
In this time of physical distancing, the deacons of Grace Covenant continue to be available to talk and pray with you by phone or online and to coordinate care. If you have difficulty reaching your assigned deacon or if you do not know who your assigned deacon is, please feel free to reach out to our deacon of the week.
This week (4/10-4/16): Bill McNeff | email: wpmcn6@yahoo.com
Next week (4/17-4/23): Paul Tierney | email: paul@tierneyandco.net
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Prayer requests will stay on the GCPC Prayer List for one month. Please let any staff member know if you (or your loved one) would like to remain on the list for longer.
Iglesia Jerusalem congregation
Debi Miller (friend of Marcia Mount Shoop)
Maria and Esteban Goicoechea (La Mariposa and her husband)
Winnie Martel (Prayers for Winnie and Susie Churchfield)
Jeffrey and Jennifer Hedges (Parents of Landon, Joe and Janice Brumit's godson, who passed away on March 14)
Seth Turnbow (Anne Raustol’s twin brother)
Loyda Kyremes (Amy Kim Kyremes-Park's mother)
Vince and Michele (Gordon Gaiser’s niece and nephew-in-law)
Connie, Jeff and Kevin (Robin and Gordon Gaiser’s friends)
Bobby (Robin and Gordon Gaiser’s friend)
Gayla Fedele (friend of Karen Rohls)
Jeanine Buelens (relative of Bill McNeff)
Bill Ross (Jonathan Ross’ dad)
Chip Lambert (GCPC Community member who is hiking the App. Trail)
Jordan Lemmond (Matt Wiedle and Lara Hollaway's son)
Diane Jones (Marta Alcala-Williams' friend)
Bob Higgins
Susan Smialowicz
Doris Prak
Michelle Chromey and family
Baby Miriam, Jade and the whole Baker family
Mary Ida Spradlin
Susie Wheelis
Sherrie McCleary-Small
Bob Schaefer
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Adult Education | Presbyterianism 102: Going Deeper into Presbyterian Belief and Practice I Sundays | April 24 - May 22 I 9:00 - 10:00 AM | Fellowship Hall and Zoom
To be Presbyterian is to join a way of life informed by a particular rhythm: God calls us in grace and love; we respond in gratitude. This 5 week course will explore the many ways that Presbyterians can understand this rhythm in our lives today. No prior understanding of Presbyterianism is needed! Come and let's explore together! Facilitators: Richard Coble, Matt Wiedle, Janice Kominski
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Asheville Area Piano Forum | Sunday, April 24 | 3:00 PM |
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
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Hybrid Spring Memoir Series | Monday, May 2 | 6:00 PM | Fellowship Hall and Zoom
Join us for a series of book talks focusing on memoirs written by people of faith. Please pre-read the book to ensure lively discussion. The church now has copies of the books. Please contact Richard or Anna Louise if you would like to come by and borrow one of the copies.
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May 2 | Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo | Facilitator: Alexandra Lusak
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Racial Justice Book Series | May - August | 6:30 PM | 4th Thursday of the Month
The Racial Justice Book Series returns this summer with four books about the systems, consequences, and remedies of the deep entrenchment of white supremacy culture in our country and church.
All meetings will be in hybrid format. Come in person or tune in via zoom! The church library has copies of all the books. Contact Richard or Anna Louise to reserve a copy.
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Presbyterian Womenʼs Circles are Zoom meetings. Please join us.
Circle 1: Second Monday of each month, 10:00 a.m.
Circle 2: First Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Circle 3: Varies (Click here to see schedule for 2021-2022), 7:00 p.m.
Circle 4: First Thursday of each month, 7:00 p.m.
Circle 5: First Monday of each month, 11:00 a.m.
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Need to set up a church zoom meeting?
Contact Anna Louise and she can get you all set up!
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Donate a rock for our new flower beds!
Have an extra rock or two laying around that you don't need? We are looking for rocks about the size of a cantaloupe or a football, or maybe a spaghetti squash, to help line our new perennial flower beds at the Community Garden. The rocks will delineate the flower beds and help keep grass from creeping in. You can paint or decorate your rocks or just leave them be. We can have a rock decorating day with kids at the church when we get enough. Please drop off your rocks by May 1st in the black bin labeled "GARDEN ROCKS" in the GCPC courtyard or down by the compost bins at the Community Garden near McDonald's parking lot.
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Planning on giving regularly to GCPC? Let us know by submitting a pledge, which helps us maintain sustainable financials and more accurately budget. Anyone can pledge any amount- every single gift helps support the ministry and mission at GCPC!
WAYS TO PLEDGE:
Questions, concerns, or need help setting up eGiving? Contact Natalie Weaver, Stewardship & Financial Administrator at 828.254.3274, natalie@gcpcusa.org, or stop by the office Tuesdays 10am - 4pm.
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Community Working Together | | |
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RAZOM (focuses on medical supply purchases)
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CALL TO ACTION from Racial Justice Coalition
On behalf of a community member currently living in Pisgah View Apartments with her three kids, we are searching for landlords or connections to landlords who have a 3-4 bedroom apartment or house available within the following rent budget: $1,769 if the family is expected to pay for most or all of the utilities and $2,027 maximum rent if the landlord will pay all of the utilities and furnish the stove and refrigerator.
Supporting marginalized community members in accessing affordable housing works to dismantle systemic barriers which perpetuate wealth inequality and other systems of inequality. Utilizing a Housing Choice Voucher to rent is one of the first steps toward gaining the ability to begin renting independently and eventually owning a home.
If you would like to learn more about renting to folks with a HCV, please refer to the Housing Choice Vouchers Fact Sheet, and reach out to lauren@rjcavl.org with any questions and/or leads on housing opportunities.
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Earth Day Vigil | Sunday, April 24 | 4 - 5 PM | First Baptist Church
Please join the Creation Care Alliance at the First Baptist Church Asheville sacred/garden labyrinth for their annual Earth Day Vigil. This will be a time of prayer, music, lament, celebration, community building, and faithful action. Learn more on the Creation Care Alliance website and email sarah@creationcarealliance.org with any questions. This event is open to people of all faiths and spiritual traditions. Light refreshments will be served following the service.
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Habitat for Humanity News!
Volunteer dates are still available on the calendar! If you are interested, please contact Bill Ryan at bill73ryan@gmail.com.
GCPC will be participating along with a dozen or more faith families in this years' Habitat for Humanity House of Faith. There will be several ways to help, but for now we are looking for construction volunteers, with no experience required.
The house construction begins on Tuesday, April 26 and we work Tuesday through Saturday until July 1st, with the weeks of June 7-18 off. All days are 8:15 -3:15 except Friday which is 8:15-noon. There will be no more than 8 volunteers on the site and we will be closely supervised by a patient and pleasant professional. Anyone age 16 and up can help.
Information is also available at the Welcome Desk in the narthex.
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Hood Huggers and Peace Gardens Announce their Spring Liberation Celebration Weekend of Events! | | |
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Peace Gardens Annual Spring Plant Sale | Saturday, April 23 | 11 AM - 6 PM | 47 Bryant St.
We will have spring plants and many festivities happening, including a Puppet Show, Live Music, Food, Libations, Community Store, BIPOC Vendors, and some info on the growing initiative, Blue Note Junction!
All proceeds are reinvested into the BIPOC community.
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Rebuilding Affrilachia World Tour Pop-Up Art Show | Sunday, April 24 | 11 AM - 6 PM | 8 River Arts Place
We will be featuring works made from salvaged and repurposed wood and metal and represent DeWayne B-Love Barton's African American heritage and his lifelong work rebuilding communities. This day is special in the story of liberation in Asheville. Live music, refreshments, info on growing initiatives, and more will be part of this one-day-only pop-up.
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Raise A Home Auction | Saturday, April 30 | AB Tech Mission Health Event Center (16 Fernihurst Dr., AVL 28801)
BeLoved Asheville’s Raise a Home Auction will feature both a live and a silent auction to support the BeLoved Village. With 75% funding in place for this $1.2 million project, you can help complete the Village project by attending the RAH Auction on Saturday, April 30th!
Reserve your ticket and help us reach our goal! Construction will be in full swing late spring/early summer. Join us for a night of community and celebration and help us Raise A Home in the BeLoved Village! See all the details and your invitation below.
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Interfaith Initiative -
Social Justice Opportunities
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Turn your eyes to Jesus -
Stated Clerk commemorates Holy Week
As we look back at that final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we can just imagine the energy in the crowd as he came into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey while crowds cheered and waved palm branches.
But how swiftly the public tide can turn. Within days, Jesus would hold his final meal with the 12 disciples as religious leaders plotted his arrest and death. Knowing what was ahead, imagine the agony and loneliness he felt as he prayed for God to deliver him from his destiny.
By the end of the week, he stood beaten, battered and half dead as a death sentence was delivered. Barely able to stand, the son of God staggered through the streets of Jerusalem with a heavy cross on his back. The same people who cheered and adored him just days earlier were now cursing him and demanding his crucifixion.
Holy Week is much more than the affirmation of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. In many ways, it is a narrative for the human race. Within a few short days, shouts of adoration and praise were replaced by hatred and violence. We find ourselves today in a world dealing with the same issues.
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The Rev. Shanea D. Leonard is Coordinator for Gender & Racial Justice in the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice Ministries. (Contributed photo) | |
‘Learn more about intersectional justice at one of these webinars’ -
The people who brought you antiracism and gender and inclusion programs last year have a new offering
~ by Rich Copley
After presenting a popular series of webinars on antiracism and gender and inclusion last year, the Presbyterian Office of Gender, Racial and Intercultural Justice is gearing up to offer a webinar on intersectional justice this year.
“Intersectional Justice: Exploring Gender & Racial Justice in a Matthew 25 Context” will be offered three times in 2022, starting April 26. Additional sessions are being offered July 13 and Sept. 14. This is three offerings of the same content, not a series. Registration is capped for each session.
Click here to register for the “Intersectional Justice” webinar at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on April 26.
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Photo by Jon Tyson via Unsplash | |
‘How and why the church fuels white supremacy’ -
An ecumenical panel explores the extent of that sin and how the church can heal
~ by Mike Ferguson
People recruiting for a white supremacist cause on a Sunday morning will find more success at their local church than at their local coffee shop.
That’s what research revealed for Dr. Robert P. Jones’ most recent book, “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” and it’s a fact he shared Saturday during the White Supremacy and American Christianity webinar attended by about 2,500 people. Jones, the CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, joined Fr. Bryan Massingale, the author of “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church” and the Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Ethics as well as the Senior Ethics Fellow at Fordham University’s Center for Ethics Education. Dr. Marcia Chatelain, winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book “Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America” and a professor of history and African American Studies at Georgetown University, answered Jones’ and Massingale’s presentations with her own critique.
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GCPC Staff member, Micah Hayes, also serves as Communications Coordinator for the UNC Asheville Prison Education Program.
Click here to see his latest newsletter and /or subscribe.
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Haywood St. Congregation
PBS stations throughout the country will be broadcasting the documentary on the Haywood Fresco in April and May. Locally, the film will be broadcast on SCETV in Asheville on April 11 at 10pm, WTVI in Charlotte on April 16 at 11pm, and on the WORLD Channel on Easter at 12:30pm (EST). For more air date times and locations, please check your local PBS listings. The film is available to stream until May 1, 2022 at PBS.org.
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HOW TO CONTACT STAFF:
The church office is open weekly for walk-ins on Tuesdays, 10am - 4pm. Our staff can also be reached by email or voicemail Monday - Friday. To leave a voicemail for a staff member to return your call, follow these steps:
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Call the main office at 828-254-3274.
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Listen through the office closure notice, which will then take you to a staff directory.
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Enter the first 3 letters of either the staff member's first or last name on your phone keypad (i.e. to reach Natalie Weaver, you'd enter 628 for NAT or 932 for WEA).
- You'll be directed to the staff member's individual voicemail, where you can leave a message to be returned as soon as possible.
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If you just want to leave a message for the general voicemail box, press 0.
You can also reach our staff by email- please see our website for each staff member's individual email address.
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Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
789 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804
828.254.3274
www.gcpcusa.org
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